HomeMy WebLinkAboutToliver Family LaundryToliver’s Home Laundry
Viola Ford-Toliver (pictured the third from the left) staying true to her heritage of
entrepreneurship and being creative in 1945, purchased a ¼ acre of land from a Mrs.
Angie Gavin and built a successful laundry service that employed several of the local
women.
Viola Ford-Toliver was the fifth child born to George and Victoria Ford in 1904. Viola
married Robert Jack Toliver and had six children: Vanee, Robert Webb, Iris Jean,
Majorie, Eleanor, and Mary Nell. Early in Viola and Robert’s marriage they earned
money as sharecroppers on local farms and in 1937 they purchased a ¼ acre of land from
Mr. Kapchinski to build their family home. In 1942 viola and her husband moved their
family to Vancouver, Washington so that they could both work for Kaiser Shipyard; they
returned to Texas in 1945. Although, Viola only completed school up to the eighth grade
she was nevertheless an innovative person.